


love me like i'm brand new

by HeartonFire



Series: your eyes look like coming home [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, F/M, Fist Fights, Smut, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 02:33:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17357267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartonFire/pseuds/HeartonFire
Summary: College AU. Karen goes to a party while Frank is out of town. When her creepy RA won't leave her alone and Frank comes back early, things escalate quickly.





	love me like i'm brand new

**Author's Note:**

> I can't seem to stop writing in this universe, and someone suggested that I write the fight between Frank and Grotto, so I thought I'd put all the pieces together into a series to make them easy to find and read together. And, of course, as always, there is smut at the end. ;) Enjoy!

“You’re sure you can’t come tonight?” Karen knew she was whining, but she couldn’t help it.

“My mom needs me to come by.” Frank didn’t seem bothered by the whining, but Karen felt a pang of guilt. She knew his parents were getting older. Frank was an only child, and she knew he worried about them. She took his hand and squeezed it. He lifted it to his lips. “I’ll be back by morning. We’ll have breakfast.”

“Okay.” She let him pull her into his lap and kiss her, tongue probing past her lips to make her shiver with need.

But as soon as she pressed her hips against his, he pulled away.

“You do that, and I’m never going to leave.”

“So?” she mumbled, burying her face against his neck. She couldn’t get enough of him. He knew it.

“Karen.” There was a warning in his voice now. Karen let go, climbing off his lap. Before she could get too far, Frank pulled her back for another kiss. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Hurry.”

“Go have fun with your friends. You won’t even miss me.”

“Not true. I always miss you.” It had only been a few weeks, but she hated being away from him. It made her feel crazy, unsettled, to be so attached to him, but Frank hadn’t given her any reason to doubt what they had. Even if it had started as a fake relationship, what they had was real. There was no question of that.

“Come on. I’ll walk you back to your room. Hold your hand and whatever.”

Karen smiled. He was never going to let that go. She didn’t mind. She loved the feeling of his hand in hers.

“I’ll see you soon. You look beautiful. Have fun tonight.”

Karen blushed. She was just in jeans and a t-shirt, but Frank never seemed to mind. He left her with another kiss and she pushed through the door to find her roommate sprawled on her bed, apparently asleep. Or possibly (probably) passed out.

“Jess?” Karen whispered. Her roommate sat up with a start, blinking wildly as she pushed her messy hair out of her face.

“What time is it?” she mumbled, squeezing her eyes closed again.

“Almost eight.”

Jessica groaned. “I was supposed to write a paper today.”

“There’s always tomorrow,” Karen said brightly.

Jessica threw a pillow at her. Karen dodged it easily and sat down at her desk to fix her makeup and brush her hair.

“Where’s the party tonight?”

“You sure you’re going to be up for it?”

“Please,” Jessica scoffed. “Give me a half hour and I’ll be fine.”

Karen believed it. She had seen Jessica start out looking much worse and still manage to rally for a good party. The party tonight was an annual ritual at one of the apartment buildings on campus. Campus security generally looked the other way, and everyone got to have a good time. Karen just wished Frank was going to be there.

“Hey!” A blonde head poked through the door, waving a bottle of champagne. “You ready for tonight?”

“Almost.” Karen nodded at Jessica. “She’s going to need a minute.”

“I hate you guys.” She got up and strode over to Trish to grab the bottle from her. “But this should help.”

She popped the cork and took a long swig, wrinkling her nose at the bubbles, before handing the bottle to Trish. She poured two cups and gave the bottle back to Jessica, who was trying to find a clean shirt in her pile of clothes on the floor.

“No Frank tonight?” Trish asked, raising an eyebrow at Karen.

“No.” She shook her head. “He had to go home for the night. I can do things without him, you know.”

“Oh, we know,” Jessica said, straightening with a triumphant smile. “We just weren’t sure you remembered that.”

“Shut up.” Karen felt her cheeks burning. She knew she had been more than a little wrapped up in Frank for the last few weeks, but she was still the same person. Independent. Strong. She was so grateful to have Frank, but she didn’t _need_ him. Not for everything. Not for this.

“This party will be fun tonight,” Trish said, raising her cup. “To friends and college and parties!”

They tapped their cups against the bottle and drained them. Jessica ran her fingers through her hair, wiped the mascara from under her eyes, and gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The party was packed when they got there. Karen couldn’t hear anything Trish or Jessica said, and she lost them pretty quickly in the crowd. She took a beer from a cooler and moved out of the way of a football player doing a keg stand before she got kicked in the face.

She thought she spotted Trish’s blonde hair in the crowd and pushed her way through the crush of bodies to find her, but when she got there, it wasn’t Trish. It was Marci, Foggy’s girlfriend.

“Hey!” Foggy said, hugging her as soon as he saw her. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight! Have you met Marci?”

Karen nodded. “Yes, we’ve met. Hi, Marci.”

“Karen.” She smiled at her, but Karen noticed the flash in her eyes when she caught Foggy’s gaze. She had met Marci before; she and Foggy had been together almost since the beginning of the year. She had always liked her, and she wasn’t sure exactly why Marci was looking at her like that.

“How are you guys?” The beer was bitter on her tongue, but it seemed safer than the tubs of mystery liquid on every floor. She wondered if drinking was worth it, if it tasted this bad.

“Good. Where’s Frank?” Foggy was looking around like he had any chance to see anyone in the crowd around them, but before she could respond to his question, she saw his face fall. She turned to look in the same direction, and saw the reason for Marci’s stray glances and Foggy’s troubled expression.

Matt.

Matt and his extremely pretty girlfriend.

Karen shook her head. She appreciated Foggy’s concern, but she was so over Matt at this point, it was ridiculous. She had Frank. What more could she need?

Matt coughed, adjusting his glasses. “Karen, hi.” Great. So Matt was going to be weird about it too.

“Hi, Matt. Hi, I’m Karen.” She extended her hand to the gorgeous woman beside Matt. She looked a little overdressed for this college party, but she was smiling and they were holding hands. Her eyes were scanning the room like a laser beam, like she was logging every face for future reference.

“Elektra.” Wow. Intense name for an intense woman.

“It’s really great to meet you.”

“You as well. I’ve heard lovely things.” Her voice was light, airy, with a lilting accent that made her all the more mysterious. Matt was looking at her with hearts in his eyes, until he remembered Karen was there, and he cleared his throat again. No one said anything.

Karen started to move away, the tension stretching too tight even for her, but before she could, Matt touched her arm.

“How have you been?”

“Fine.” She straightened her shoulders. “Great, actually.”

“Good. I’m glad.” His somber expression nearly made her laugh. What right did he have to worry about how she was doing, after the way he treated her?

This wasn’t the time or place, though, and Karen knew that. “I’m going to try to find Jessica and Trish. Excuse me.”

She felt Foggy’s eyes on her as she left, but it didn’t matter. Even though Frank wasn’t here, she was with him. She knew and so did he. That was all that mattered. She didn’t much care if Matt knew. She hoped he was happy. She certainly was.

As she rounded the corner out of the stairwell, someone called her name, and an icy chill raced down her spine, accompanied by a clammy hand around her wrist.

“Elliot,” Karen said, trying to pull her arm away. His grip was too strong. She couldn’t get him to let go.

“Come on, let me get you a drink.” He held out a cup and Karen held up her can.

“I already have one, but thanks.” She kept trying to tug her hand out of his grasp. “And should you be encouraging me to drink? You’re my R.A.”

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while.” He shook his head, ignoring her comment. “Surprised Castle let you out to go to a party.”

“Excuse me?”

“Where is he, anyway?”

Karen really didn’t like the look in his eyes when he asked the question, and she shrugged. “He doesn’t go with me everywhere I go. But now I need to find Jessica, so excuse me.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Not at all. Not that it’s any of your business,” she muttered, under her breath.

“Come dance with me.” His hand tightened on her wrist and he pulled her towards a makeshift dancefloor. “If Castle’s not here, you need the company.”

“No. Thank you.” Karen tugged harder, but Elliot didn’t seem to notice. He held onto her wrist and pulled her close to him, grinding his hips against her while she stood as still as she could. Karen thought she might be sick. The stale beer and vodka in the air wasn’t helping. She had to get out of there. “Let go of me!”

The music was so loud, no one could hear her. Elliot just smiled, all sharp teeth and hollow eyes, and Karen was gearing up to knee him in the balls when a large hand fell onto his shoulder and pulled him away, though he kept his grip on her wrist.

“Let go.” Frank. He was here. He was furious.

Elliot gripped her harder. Karen was sure it would bruise. He pulled her in front of him and Frank’s eyes went black. Karen wrenched her arm free and stumbled into the crowd that was gathering. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Frank. They all knew his reputation. They knew what he was capable of.

So did Elliot, if the panic in his eyes was any indication. He was trying desperately to find an exit, but the crowd had closed in around them and there was no escape. Karen would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t been such a creep. He hadn’t let her escape either.

“I thought you weren’t coming tonight,” he said, almost too quietly to be heard over the pounding music. Frank began to circle him, hands twitching into fists.

“That why you had your hands all over Karen?” he growled, glancing at her to make sure she was okay. She couldn’t even respond before he turned back to Elliot. “Answer me!” he roared.

“Yeah.” He shrugged, like that would help.

“You will never,” Frank snarled, grabbing his collar, “touch her again.” He shook him a little, lifting Elliot off his feet. "You understand me? I'm here, I’m not here, you don’t touch her. You don’t touch anyone who doesn’t want to be touched.” Elliot nodded frantically, and Frank’s eyes narrowed. “I said, do you understand me?” He shook him with every syllable and Elliot’s head bobbed back and forth like a ragdoll.

“Yes. Yes. I understand. I won’t. I promise.” He was pleading now. Desperate. Weak. Frank let go of his collar and put an arm around Karen.

“You okay?” She nodded again, and he started to push through the crowd to leave.

“Bet she doesn’t even put out,” she heard Elliot say behind them. He was trying to be quiet about it, but if she could hear him, so could Frank.

He was on Elliot before Karen could blink, a blur of fists and grunts and fury like she had never seen before. Karen couldn’t take her eyes off him. She was frozen, watching him punch Elliot into the floor.

The chant went up as soon as Frank started in on him. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Elliot was unconscious by the time campus police showed up. The partygoers scattered, and Frank nodded at her to run while they were dealing with him. She wasn’t supposed to be there, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to be drinking. She nodded back at him, heart sinking when she saw the cops escorting him out of the building from where she was hiding around the corner.

* * *

Karen went down to the campus security building as soon as she could get out of the crowds fleeing the party. Half a beer wasn’t going to be noticeable on her breath. Or so she hoped. It didn’t matter, either way. She just had to get to Frank.

“You here for Castle?” The man behind the desk sounded bored. He probably was. This kind of thing was just a normal night for him.

It wasn’t for Karen. “Yes,” she said, a little breathlessly. “Is he okay?”

The officer smiled a little. “Yeah. He’s fine. Can’t say the same for the guy he beat the shit out of.”

“Is he free to go?”

“For now. Grotto’s not pressing charges. He managed to tell them that through his broken teeth.”

Karen shuddered.

And then, there he was. He looked surprised to see her.

“Karen?”

She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him as tight as she could. She felt him smiling against her neck.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she mumbled, trying not to let the security officer hear her.

“Me too.” He pulled away to press a kiss to her lips. “Come on. I’m beat. Let’s go to bed.”

Karen took his hand as they walked, thumb tracing over his scabbing knuckles absently. The fight, if that’s what you could call it, kept running over and over through her head. The pull of Frank’s muscles, the rage in his eyes, the speed of his movement. She shivered, squeezing his hand tighter.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, rubbing his free hand over his hair. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

“What?” Karen looked up at him, startled to see guilt etched in every line on his face. “Why?”

“I didn’t want you to see me like that.” He looked down. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m not like that anymore. Not really. But when he said that about you, I just snapped.”

She nodded. “I get it. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt.”

They were back at Branford in no time, and Karen let Frank lead her to his room. He still looked troubled, brow furrowed as he stared down at his hands, already mottled with purple and blue.

“Frank?” she said, settling onto his bed. “Can I tell you something?”

He looked at her again and nodded, folding his arms as he leaned against the desk.

Karen bit her lip. “Um, that was maybe the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He looked stunned, arms falling loosely in front of him. “What?”

She stood and walked over to him, smile creeping onto her face. “I mean, I don’t want you to get hurt over me, and I don’t want you to think you have to defend my honor or whatever.” He smirked as she kissed his bruised knuckles. “But watching you beat that piece of shit into the ground was…”

“Hot?” His hands fell to her waist and he pulled her against him. “You think so?”

She nodded. She knew she was blushing, but it was true. She let her fingertips trail over his biceps, up to his shoulders, down his back. She had seen what he could do with those muscles, but she knew what else he could do, when it was just the two of them. He leaned into her touch, eyes closed.

When his eyes snapped open again, his hands tightened and his lips were on her before she could breathe. He walked her backwards, until her back hit the door, and she arched into him when his lips and teeth traced a path down her neck.

Frank fumbled with her jeans, finally pulling them off with a growl. Karen kicked them away and got to work on his fly. It was desperate. Sloppy. Exactly what they both needed, after the night they had.

“Wait,” he breathed, voice rough. “I ran out of condoms. Meant to get some on my way back.”

Karen kissed him again, hard enough to silence him. Silence those doubts she could still see swirling around his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m on the pill.”

His eyes flashed and he lifted her, palms under her thighs. She wrapped her legs around him and felt him slide inside. The sensation was, impossibly, better than sex with Frank had been before, and Karen had been sure that was as good as it gets.

But to feel him inside her, skin to skin, was like nothing she could have imagined. He didn’t move for a long moment, and she could feel him breathing hard against her neck.

“Karen,” he mumbled, and he lifted her, sliding her along his length. Her fingernails dug into his neck, hard enough to make him hiss. “Jesus, Karen.”

She let him set the pace, snapping his hips into hers while he held her in his strong arms. She felt her muscles tensing as her clit rubbed against his skin, over and over, faster and faster, until she fell over the edge with a scream she muffled against his neck. She wasn’t trying to wake the whole building.

Frank slowed, pressing kisses to her skin until she came down through the aftershocks. He was always so sweet with her. Always careful with her. Even when he was fucking her against the door, he was impossibly gentle.

Until he wasn’t. Until he couldn’t keep himself contained anymore. Until he started thrusting into her so hard her breasts bounced with every thrust. Karen’s head fell back against the door, and one of Frank’s hands came up to cradle her head. He didn’t slow down again, until he came with a grunt, mouth finding hers for one last searing kiss.

He carried her over to the bed and she tumbled out of his arms, still reaching for him. She needed him. He needed her.

He held her until they fell asleep, heartbeat thundering through his chest. He was safe. He was alive. They were together. That was enough.

That was everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! :)


End file.
